Thom Browne Clothes Are Beautiful and Quite Basic

I’m usually suspect when upon leaving a fashion show, I hear a chorus of whispers from the crowd: “Genius. Amazing. Genius.” Translation: “I have no idea what I just saw, but I know it’s important.”

What I saw at the Thom Browne show took  a moment to process. Sitting in the crowded Victorian anatomy theater-like setting, I was confused by the white-haired models in doctors coats tending to “patients” on gurneys.  I’ve watched “The Knick” and read a few Victorian novels in my day but where was this going? Apparently we were going to a funeral. (One where Nikki Minaj would be a fellow mourner in the front row.) The first models came out dressed in all black ensembles, their delicate faces hidden by veils and geometric hats. The hats were courtesy of Stephen Jones, the genius milliner, but who’s wearing a fascinator these days besides Madonna and Kate Middleton?

I was having flashbacks to Browne’s fantastical Spring 2015 collection where the designer sent models out in Mad Hatter headgear, clownish dresses and suits embellished with loud colors and patterns. (Translation: Unwearable.) But for this collection, if you focused on the neck down and got past the layers of lace, there was nothing to mourn here. The coats were a perfect balance of structure and swing, while the lace and wool dresses could make anyone’s LBD wish list.

These were classic, somber-looking staples you could invest in and wear forever, but with just the right amount of whimsy—a little fringe here, some beading there. And though the hats and veils might be hard to pull off, the short boots and laced oxfords could be part of your everyday uniform. It’s hard to look past Browne’s theatrics and actually see the clothes, but what lies beneath isn’t wacky, it’s beautiful.

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